The grand , winding arms are almost mesmerizing in this face-on view of NGC 7424, a spiral galaxy with a prominent central bar . About 40 million light-years distant in the headlong constellation Grus , this island universe is also about 100,000 light-years across making it remarkably similar to our own Milky Way . Following along the winding arms, many bright clusters of massive young stars can be found. The star clusters themselves are several hundred light-years in diameter. And while massive stars are born in the arms of NGC 7424, they also die there. Notably, this galaxy was home to a powerful stellar explosion, supernova SN 2001ig , which faded well before the above image was recorded.
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